Martin Luther King Jr. Jeffery Payne 2 nd Block Mrs. Todd

Did you know…  Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15 th, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia.  He was the middle child of Michael King Sr. and Alberta Williams King.  In 1948, Martin earned a sociology degree from Morehouse College and attended Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania.  Martin Luther King Jr. died on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee from a gunshot wound.

Martin Luther King Jr. is famous because…  Martin Luther King Jr. was a famous Civil Rights leader and activist.  He helped organize nonviolent protests against the harsh treatment of African Americans.  In 1955, Martin Luther King Jr. organized a boycott of public bus transportation in Montgomery, Alabama after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a bus.  In 1959, he encouraged African American students to organize “sit ins” at segregated lunch counters to show that they opposed segregation. The sit ins helped end segregation at lunch counters in 27 southern states.

More accomplishments for Martin…  In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. organized a demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama. He was arrested and this gained the nation’s attention to the bad things that were going on in the South.  In March of 1963, Martin and others organized a massive march on Washington which included over 200,000 demonstrators. This is where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I have a dream” speech.  From 1965 – 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. organized countless other peaceful demonstrations to protest the mistreatment of African Americans.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Assassination  In 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was visiting Memphis, Tennessee to support the labor strikes that were going on there.  This is where he told onlookers, “I have seen the promised land. I may not get you there, but I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.”  The next day, while standing outside on his hotel balcony, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot in the back of the head by a sniper’s bullet. That sniper was James Earl Ray.

How did Martin Luther King Jr. impact the world and what is his relevance to the novel The Wednesday Wars?  Martin Luther King Jr. impacted the world by standing up for what he believed was right and organizing peaceful protests to help end the harsh treatment of African Americans throughout the South and the United States.  The setting of the book is during the same time as the Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination is also discussed in the book. These events helped me understand what life was like during that time and how people felt about the things that were going on during that time.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Famous Quotes  “I have seen the promised land. I may not get you there, but I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.”  “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

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